"Thus the practice of mental prayer should lead to continual prayer, not necessarily explicit, verbal prayer, but rather a constant awareness of God’s presence. Living under God’s gaze like that will set us free. Too often, when we feel other people’s eyes on us, it is because we fear their judgment or crave their admiration; and if we are always watching ourselves, that may be complacency at work—or guilt. But in learning to live under God’s merciful, loving gaze, we find only inner freedom." - Time for God pg. 41.
We must pray to God during every aspect of our day in order to have healthy mental prayer. We don't have to be continually saying verbal prayer all day, but we must at least be aware of God's presence in our lives and be able to acknowledge it. Whether it is offering up our work for God, remembering to say grace before meals, or even saying a couple Hail Mary's on the ride to school, our days are filled with opportunities to think about the Lord.
"Living under God's gaze will set us free." When we are constantly worrying about what other people think of us because we don't want to be judged and we want to be admired, it becomes easy to care more about what others think of us than what God thinks of us. I find this to be such a challenge as a teen, because there is so much peer pressure, and everyone seems to have an opinion about who you are, what you are good at, what you believe, etc. But, when we learn to live under God's gaze we don't worry about these things, I think it really does give us a great sense of freedom. Therefore, we must learn to acknowledge God's presence, and give him credit for the good in our lives. When we can do this we will no only feel free, but also happy, because we are not overwhelmed with worry over things that don't matter.
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